One step closer.

Got the I800 provisional approval!  Now just waiting for Article 5 approval from embassy in New Dehli so that CARA can process the NOC.  The article 5 should be here within the next couple of weeks.  Then our government is done and I am dealing with India only, at least until I travel.  That's when the LONG wait starts. NOC's have no set time for being completed in reality.  Technically it i supposed to be done in 30 days.  Reality can be several months.  Keep those prayers coming - they are working so far.

In process

No government shut down means that they are actually processing my I800 request.  For those of you unfamiliar with adoption paperwork - this means that the U.S. Government will pre-approve Priyanjali for immigration.  Her background will be investigated to determine if she meets the legal definition of an orphan.  Since she was left abandoned in the cradle at the police station and I was able to find her parental search notification online, this hopefully won't take too long.  USCIS indicates that it should be less than 30 days - of course that means 3 months possibly.  Of course that means they have 30 days before I start emailing them to check on status.  60 days results in me emailing them with cc's to my congressmen, and 90 days before cc's to my congressmen and the head office in D.C..  Once I have the approval, India will then consider my application and can grant the NOC - no objection certificate.  Then my file goes to court and the real wait begins.  This will probably be really true since my file will hit court right in the middle of monsoon season.  Still praying for that miracle time line though.  Of course if a miracle occurs, then I'll travel in monsoon season, which won't be fun.  If I get the travel in the average timeline, I'll be going in winter when the average temp is 70-80 during the day.  That sounds better than traveling when the average temp is 105 with lows in the 90's and 100% humidity, monster rains, and rolling power outages resulting in no air conditioning.  We'll see where my luck falls.

Paperwork is now in progress.

Everything has now been sent to every organization that needs it.  Now we just wait for both our government and India to process the papers.  If the government shuts down, I may have an even longer wait than I thought.  Grace is beyond excited and has even started going through old clothes from the garage sale box to save for Priyanjali.